Summer Potato Salad

We don't eat much pasta, grains or bread in the summer months. Summer spells potato salad. Take a look at these ADORABLE BABY POTATOES! 


We eat a lot of salad here. Shopping at the local organic farmers market over the last few years has helped open my mind - and my stomach to lots of new veggies and kept us keeping it fresh by following what's available by season. There has been a lot of asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb on our plates over the last months. I'm looking forward to moving into summer tomatoes so we can start using more of the basil that's taken off in our patio garden.

Potato salad is a great side for the BBQ, handy for the potluck - and always safer when you skip the mayo found in many classic recipes. Here are two of our current summer favourites:

Green Potato Salad (image at top of post)

3 tbsp salt cured capers

lots of chopped fresh parsley & basil

3 green onions chopped

1/4 cup freshly grated parmeggiano cheese

dash of olive oil and vinegar (white/red wine or balsamic)

salt & pepper

about 1 lb of the tiniest organic potatoes you can find

Pesto & Corn Potato Salad

1/4 cup fresh pesto (read labels on store bought pesto!)

1/2 cup or more corn cut from roasted cobs 

fresh basil leaves 

salt & pepper

about 1lb baby potatoes 

In both recipes, cook the potatoes in salted boiling water with skins on until tender. If potatoes are of varying sizes, cut the larger ones to the same size as the smaller ones so that they cook evenly. Drain and toss with other ingredients. So easy! Both of these keep well for a few days in the fridge, so make extra for the hot days when you don't feel like cooking!

roman tomatoes with risotto and basil

tomato flesh and liquid is mixed with risotto rice, basil, oil, salt & pepper before being put back in the tomato

In the 70's stuffed peppers were pretty trendy. Yuck. They kinda ruined any interest I might have in any other vegetable being stuffed - especially with rice. That is, until I learned how to make this classic Roman dish. Seriously, you are so going to love these.

This is how it's done. Cut the tops off of some good sized seasonal tomatoes (round and firm work best) and scoop out the innards (see above) and place in a bowl mixed with 2 heaping tbsp of uncooked risotto rice per tomato, lots of chopped fresh basil, 1tsp of olive oil per tomato, salt & pepper. Mix the ingredients together in the bowl and reload the tomatoes. Pop the tops you cut off back on like little hats to enclose. Bake in a glass ovenproof dish for 1 hour at 350 degrees). You can wedge these in the dish with potato wedges, which will roast alongside your tomatoes and keep them tightly packed in place.

In Rome, this is a summer dish often cooked late at night or in early morning when it's still cool outside. The dish is served at room temperature later in the day when it's simply too hot outside to cook. I do up a load and have them over the course of a few days. We've got a lot of hot days like today on the way... These are so good you'll find yourself wanting to make them all summer!!

crackers for lentil crackers - gluten free goodness!

The first time I tried Mediterranean Lentil Crackers was this summer at a work colleague's house. He had very kindly gone out of his way to find some gluten-free options to put out at the pot luck lunch are team was having. These were so good, I read the ingredients again after tasting. 

They are firmly crunchy vs flakey and the lentils lend a nutty flavour that I totally groove on. They are delightful on their own (read addictive) - small, and perfect for dips (as opposed to the type of cracker one might have with cheese). The ingredients list is short and healthy too. I'm hooked.